Diwali 2012: Happy Diwali, New Yorkers Celebrate Last Day of Indian New Year with a Bash

Nov 16, 2012 09:07 AM EST

The four day celebration for the Indian festival Diwali ends on Friday. While Indian Hindus, Buddhists and Jains across the globe celebrate this last day of their most auspicious holiday with plenty of gusto. The Indian-American community in New York will end the festivities with fireworks and an Annual Mega Diwali Bash at K Lounge on Saturday.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, can be translated into "row of lights," is one of the grandest Hindu Festivals. It's also known as many as the Indian New Year.

The festival is marked by a four-day celebration, with each day signifying a particular theme. During this festival, people light a number of clay lamps all around their homes and community.

The celebration in New York commenced from Late October with a number of Indian restaurants offer special Diwali festive menus and cocktail parties. The up-scale Indian restaurant Junoon had a colorful performance to complement the special menu.

President Barrack Obama also congratulated the Indian-American community on their festivities saying "Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak" (happy new year), Diwali is considered the Indian new year.

"To those celebrating Diwali, I wish you, your families and loved ones Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak...Today, here at home and across the globe, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists will celebrate the holiday of diwali, the festival of lights. Diwali is a time for gathering with family and friends, often marked with good food and dancing," said President Obama according to the New York Times.

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, wished the NY Indian-American community:

"As hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers celebrate Diwali tomorrow, our streets will literally illuminate in celebration of the festival of lights - and the triumph of good over evil,"

According to the New York Times, this is the sixth year in a row that the city celebrates the festival on such a scale.